Wringer



Aug. w L. KAUFF-MANv 2 WRINGER Original Filed Dec. 21; 1934 a INVENTORZA TTORNEYS.

Patented Aug. 24, 1937 UNITED STATES WRINGER Walter L. Kauffman, II,Erie, Pa., assignor to Lovell Manufacturing Company, Erie, Pa., acorporation of Pennsylvania Application December 21, 1933, Serial No.703,353 Renewed July 30, 1936 5 Claims.

Power clothes wringers present more or less danger to the operator inthat in feeding clothes to the wringer the operator sometimes gets thefingers too close to the rolls and is caught in 5 the wringer. Thisresults in painful injuries to the person caught. The present inventionis designed to aid in preventing such accidents, and briefly consists inproviding a raised portion on the clothes guide leading to the bite ofthe rolls of the wringer at a point adjacent to the wringer, this raisedportion being such as to warn an operator moving clothes along the guideto the bite of the rolls of the dangerous proximity of the rolls.Features and details of the invention 5 will appear from thespecification and claims.

A preferred embodiment of theinvention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawing as follows:

Fig. 1 shows a front elevation of a wringer.

Fig. 2 a perspective View of the clothes guide detached.

Fig. 3 a section on the line 3-3 in Fig. 1.

The frame of the wringer is provided with a trough-shaped base I, sidestiles 2 and a top 5 bar 3. Wringer rolls 4 and 5 are mounted in theframe in the usual manner.

A clothes guide 6 is formed with end walls 1 and these end walls aresecured to the front and rear faces of the stiles by means of bolts, orpins 8. The guide is located in feeding relation to the bite of therolls.

Along the inner edge of the clothes guide I provide a raised portion 9which forms a slight obstruction to the clothes, but does not preventthe ready feeding of the clothes to the bite of the wringer. This raisedportion, however, forms in a measure a stop, or warning to the operatorof the proximity of the rolls and thus reduces the probability ofaccident by reason of the operator moving the fingers into the rolls. Inthe normal feeding of clothes through the wringer, the hand or hands ofthe operator have the fingers-at least the ends of the fingers below themiddle joint-under the clothes and as the fingers move upwardly alongthe guide carrying the clothes in front of them, the advance side of thelower portion of the four fingers engage the stop or abutment 9. Thisabutment is preferably of a height not only to form a warning of theproximity of the bite, but also to form a definite obstruction to theforward movement of the fingers in the normal feeding of the clothespast the abutment. To this end, preferably, the abutment is of a heightengaging the major portion of the thickness of the advancing fingersbelow the middle joint. Furthermore, the face of the abutment preventsthe passage of clothes through the abutment so that in the feeding ofthe clothes the clothes must be passed over the abutment. Thissimplifies the manufacture and also makes the feeding of the clothesnotwithstanding the abutment not only safe but convenient and effective.It will be noted also that this upward slant of the raised portion 9tends, should an abnormal feeding operation be attempted, to deflect thehand of an operator upwardly above the actual bite of the rolls and thusgives an added protection.

The clothes guide preferably has a downwardly extending flange H] whichassists in guiding the expelled water into the trough-shaped base of thewringer.

What I claim as new is:

1. In a wringer, the combination of a frame; and rolls one above theother, mounted in the frame; of a clothes guide leading to the bite ofthe rolls, said guide having a raised portion extending upwardly tosubstantially the horizontal level of the bite of the rolls with acomparatively sharp crest, adjacent to the rolls, having an outwardabrupt slope forming a warning abutment adapted to warn the operatorfeeding clothes to the rolls, of the proximity of the rolls.

2. In a wringer, the combination of a frame; and rolls one above theother, mounted in the frame; of a clothes guide leading to the bite ofthe rolls, said guide having a raised portion extending upwardly tosubstantially the horizontal level of the bite of the rolls with acomparatively sharp crest, adjacent to the rolls, having an outwardabrupt slope forming a warning abutment adapted to warn the operatorfeeding clothes to the rolls, of the proximity of the rolls, and aninner slope extending to a point below the plane of the guide.

3. In a wringer, the combination with a frame, and rolls mounted in theframe; of a clothes guide below the path of the clothes leading to therolls, and located in feeding relation to the bite of the rolls, saidguide having a finger engaging warning abutment on its upper surfacealong the roll side of the .guide, the face of the abutment having aguiding surface sufficiently unbroken to lead clothes being fed to therolls upward and over the top edge thereof.

4. In a wringer. the combination with a frame, and rolls mounted in theframe; of a clothes guide below the path of the clothes leading to therolls, and located in feeding relation to the bite of the rolls, saidguide having a finger engaging warning abutment on its upper surfacealong the roll side of the guide of a, height obstructing the passage ofan operators hand in a normal feeding movement into the roll bite, theface of the abutment having a guiding surface sufiiciently unbroken tolead clothes being fed to the rolls upward and over the top edgethereof.

5. In a wringer, the combination with a frame, and rolls mounted in theframe; of a clothes guide below the path of the clothes leading to therolls, and located in feeding relation to the bite of the rolls, saidguide having a finger engaging warning abutment on its upper surfacealong the roll side of the guide of a height to abut the major portionof the thickness of an operators forefinger below the middle joint,advancing against the abutment in the feeding operation, the face of theabutment having a guiding surface suiiiciently unbroken to lead clothesbeing fed to the rolls upward and over the top edge thereof.

WALTER L. KAUFFMAN, II.

